The Day of Silence with the Gay Straight Alliance edited

The Day of Silence with the Gay Straight Alliance

By Carmen Kelly

Imagine a day when no one spoke; when students come together to take a silent stand, to fight for what they believe in; fight for people who couldn’t fight for themselves. April 17 is that day: the Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence is an event where students take a vow of silence for one day to bring attention to the harassment, bullying, and name calling experienced by LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender – students and their allies, according to DayOfSilence.com. Students put themselves in the place of these students, who because of the harassment, are silenced.

Miami Beach Senior High’s Gay Straight Alliance was inspired to participate in the event. The GSA aspires to raise awareness about gay, lesbian, and transgender students at Beach High. According to their website, they hope for equal-rights for everyone, no matter the gender or sexual preferences.

“I participated last year with GSA,” said GSA Vice President of Fundraising Tyler Morrow, a sophomore. “The experience was eye opening.”

The Day of Silence participants will gather together on April 17 to count down the seconds until the 7:30 morning bell rings. From that moment on, each participant will take a vow of silence.

“It is supposed to replicate, and it does, how hard it is to be taunted by others who perhaps don’t empathize with who you are,” said GSA sponsor, Nina Duval.

Last year, the students at Beach High who didn’t participate in the event could not always be counted on to encourage the Day of Silence participants. “They tried anything to get you to talk, to break the silence,” said GSA Historian Isis Garcia, a sophomore. “It takes patience and maturity, but it’s really rewarding to see their faces when you don’t give in.”

Several teachers also showed “disrespect” to the students involved, according to Duval. “Last year, there were some members of staff who actually tried to taunt students and we’re not particularly empathetic to the cause,” said Duval. “I was quite surprised by what would appear to be some degree of intolerance on the part of some members of staff.”

Speaking cards are issued to Day of Silence participants. These cards are used in place of words to explain the circumstances of the event and why they have taken a vow of silence.

“Even though we are the Gay Straight Alliance and we promote gay and straight equality, not all our members, including myself, have actually experienced first-hand the frustration and isolation of not being able to express yourself and talk openly and freely to your peers,” said Garcia.